The present invention relates generally to voltage regulation for semiconductor circuits, and more particularly to voltage regulation operations using load and regulator efficiency information.
Regulated DC-DC voltage converters generally provide for regulated power to operational circuitry, for example integrated circuits in semiconductor devices used in a wide variety of applications. Integrated circuits generally require provision of power within particular parameters during operation. The provision of such power may face many complexities. For example, semiconductor chips including the integrated circuits may have different portions that require power at the same or different times, different portions may require power within different parameters, and some portions may utilize different amounts of power at different times. Complicating matters, some devices may be powered by batteries having relatively small capacities, while the devices themselves, at least at various times, may require large amounts of power.
Varying voltages supplied to operating circuits and/or varying a clock rate of clocks which govern timing of operations of the operating circuits may assist in reducing power consumption by the operating circuits. This may be performed dynamically during circuit operations, and may be based on amount of workload, nature of workload, as well as operating circuit temperature information, for example from process, variation, and temperature sensors, and information relating to whether circuit operation should be optimized for performance or efficiency. Unfortunately, such dynamic voltage and frequency scaling operations may not sufficiently provide for a combination of desired circuit operation and power consumption control under varying operating conditions.